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On Sunday, the day before yesterday, my father was cremated. We had planned a small ceremony at the crematorium with just the immediate family. But his brothers and sisters came, along with their sons and daughters, and in the end about twenty people gathered. Just before the cremation, my father’s closest friend called out to him in his coffin: “Hey, Matsuoka! Wait for me! I’ll be joining you soon!” They had been together since elementary school and had known each other for

My father died. Three years ago he got colon cancer, and even after they removed his entire colon and he was down to skin and bone, he recovered enough to walk on his own just three weeks after the surgery — and then, just like that, he was gone. He was eighty-three. The way he died, the phrase "a slow suicide" comes to mind. Not in a negative sense, but as proof that he had lived enough. For the last two or three months, he would nod off without realizing it, even sitting on

Yesterday evening, my mother called me. She said that my father had been vomiting repeatedly since the morning. He had vomited once in the morning, but the nausea had not gone away, and he kept trying to vomit. However, since he had eaten nothing all day, there was nothing left to bring up. Worried, my sister said that he should be taken to the hospital that same day, so he went there in the evening. I happened to have some time, so I drove to my parents’ home in Kanagawa to

Recently, new clients have gradually begun coming in. Some people also return at regular intervals—every week or every month. I am grateful for that. Compared with the rest of a person’s daily life, the time spent receiving treatment is only a small part of it. Even if their symptoms ease or disappear during a session, their physical condition may change again depending on how they spend their time afterward. That is why, in addition to the treatment itself, I try to offer gu

My wife works for a real estate company. Today, while we were driving to Tokyo, we began talking about the state of the real estate market. She told me that expensive properties used to sell quite well, but recently they have stopped moving. Apparently, the system for transferring money from China overseas has changed, and many of the Chinese buyers who had been purchasing high-priced properties have disappeared from the market. The properties most affected are those priced b

It had been raining heavily since yesterday morning. Chiba seems to be hit by this kind of heavy rain quite often these days. Despite the weather, a longtime client came to Shisui Bettei with her parents. This was the second time she had brought them. For her father, it was his lower back last time and his knee this time. His knee hurt badly enough that he needed painkillers. Her mother has rheumatoid arthritis, and her back has become hunched. I am still looking for somethin

This morning, I had a Zoom session with Michelle in Los Angeles. She said she had severe pain around her lower back. Even the slightest movement caused considerable pain. I tried a few things while observing how her body responded. When we had finished, I asked her to move her body. “I can barely feel the pain I had a moment ago,” she said. Then Michelle asked the same question she always asks. “What’s going on?” What exactly is happening? This was our third Zoom session. And

I received a message from Noëmie, a French friend I met when I was living in Mexico City. She was in Japan for work and asked if I would like to meet. Noëmie and I attended the same salsa school in Mexico City. We saw each other three or four times a week. We went out for drinks, had meals together, and often spent time with the same group of friends. She was only twenty then. She worked at the French Embassy and had a double major at university. She was quite the high achiev

I woke up before seven this morning and watched the final of Tango Escenario—the choreographed category—at the Tango World Championship in Buenos Aires. Seventeen couples had made it through to the final. Together with the continental champions, twenty couples competed in all. Watching from the beginning, I enjoyed seeing the different qualities of each couple. But after several performances, I have to admit that my concentration began to fade. Diego and Aldana finally appear

At seven this morning, I watched a livestream of the final of the Tango World Championship being held in Buenos Aires. Seven in the morning here is seven in the evening in Buenos Aires. There is exactly a twelve-hour time difference. Last year, Diego and Aldana won the Tango de Pista category. They have a tango studio in Yutenji, and I have been learning from them for many years. This year, they are competing in the Tango Escenario category—the choreographed division. Their f

Today, a woman in her seventies visited my salon for the first time. She told me that she had tried a wide range of health devices and wellness products. She had, of course, also been seeing doctors. As I listened to her, I began to see not only what was happening with her body, but also how she spent her days. She is a full-time homemaker and has a fair amount of time at her disposal. When she has time on her hands, she tends to keep searching online for information about he

Yesterday, I went out dancing tango with a Chinese friend of mine. She is an exceptionally thoughtful person. When she learned that I was studying Chinese, she began speaking to me in Chinese whenever possible. We both speak English, so using English would naturally be easier and less stressful for her. Even so, she makes the effort to speak Chinese for the sake of my studies. That is the kind of friendship we have, and we occasionally go dancing together. She lives in Meguro

KaradaNaoru Continuing Practice GroupAugust 19, 2026 Today’s session in Musashi-Koyama took place without Manager Kimura, who was away on summer vacation. Even without our host, the continuing practice group gathered as energetically as ever. We welcomed a new participant, Ms. H, and both the in-person and online sessions were fully attended. The session began with Dr. Matsuoka’s observation: “Recently, there seem to be so many people who are unwell or completely exhausted.”

Yesterday, I turned 52. After living for more than half a century, I no longer attach any particularly profound meaning to my birthday. I returned home from Tokyo and cooked dinner as usual. Since it was my birthday, however, I decided to make it slightly more special. I bought three bone-in chicken legs, like the kind often served at Christmas. One for my father-in-law, one for my wife, and one for me. The person celebrating his birthday cooked dinner for everyone else. It f

Yesterday, I accompanied my mother to the hospital for some examinations.My wife came with us. Ever since something happened to my mother’s health last year, standing up has gradually become more difficult for her. It is not so much that she cannot walk. Rather, the movement of rising from a chair no longer seems to connect naturally with the rest of her body. My mother wanted to know exactly what was causing it, so she visited both neurosurgery and neurology departments. She

Yesterday morning, I received a message in English. It asked whether there was an opening for a “walk” that day. When I looked at the phone number, I saw that it had a South African country code. The wording was also slightly unnatural, so to be honest, my first thought was that it might be spam. ⸻ Still, I decided to reply, just in case. After exchanging a few messages, I realized that “walk” was simply a typo. He wanted to book a session that day. I did not ask for details

Yesterday, an 87-year-old woman came to my salon. I have been working with her for nearly three years. She first came to see me when she was 84. At the time, even walking was difficult. Every step seemed to cause considerable pain. There was deep-seated tension in her body, and it was affecting her ability to walk. She later told me that she had felt completely at a loss, wondering what would happen to her. ⸻ Her condition improved relatively quickly after we began working to

Tomorrow, I will be holding a conversation with Naoya Fujiwara. The title is: “The Invisible World and the Future of Japan.” For the past several days, I have been thinking constantly about what we should discuss. The complex number model. The Three Degrees of Influence. The body and consciousness. The future of Japan. There are many subjects I want to explore. But as I continued preparing, I began to feel that “happiness” might lie at the center of them all. ⸻ Tomorrow, I pl

I have been preparing for my conversation with Naoya Fujiwara on August 22. The title is: “The Invisible World and the Future of Japan.” It is an extremely broad theme. It could lead us into politics and economics. It could also take us into consciousness, prayer, trust, and spirituality. We could discuss the body, human relationships, happiness, and the future of society. There are countless possible starting points and just as many directions in which the conversation could

Yesterday, I went to a day-use hot spring different from the one I usually visit. It is about a 20-minute drive from our house. It was not my first time there. Many years ago, I visited it with my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, my wife, and me. There were four of us. ⸻ I think it was probably in 2011. Perhaps it was before we moved to Buenos Aires. Or perhaps it was in 2012, when we briefly returned to Japan and stayed at the family home in Shisui. I cannot remember exactly